But the stench grew stronger and stronger, making it almost impossible to breathe. The door to the house ahead was still open, and a powerful urge to escape inside and hide from the smell surged in my mind. I fought to restrain myself.
I couldn't afford a single misstep—even the slightest error would drag me into the Death Array.* This formation was both strange and formidable. Gasping for breath, drenched in sweat, I pressed my hand over my mouth and collapsed to the ground, desperate for relief.
*Death Array: a supernatural killing formation that manipulates reality and perception, trapping intruders in deadly illusions.
Black liquid streaked across the white-tiled floor, surging toward me like living shadows. I shut my eyes, but the world around me remained disturbingly vivid. I was reaching my breaking point.
The ground beneath my hands softened, turning into pitch-black sludge. I felt my body sinking, helpless. Then, as if possessed, I found myself crawling through the muck toward the house ahead, inch by inch.
"Idiot, find a way to seal me off completely." (Rachel (Shadow Self)'s voice echoed in my mind, urgent and clear.)
A voice echoed in my mind. I stared in shock—it was Rachel (Shadow Self)* speaking. My mood gradually steadied as I forced myself to ignore the stench and the sticky sensation all over my body. When I opened my eyes again, the white tiles were still beneath my feet, golden wheat fields stretched out on either side, and the scent of grain filled the air. The hallucination had vanished. Relief flooded through me, and I couldn't help but smile.
*Rachel (Shadow Self): The protagonist's wife, whose Yin aspect exists as a separate consciousness within him, often communicating during supernatural events.
The vital energy connecting me to the entry point behind was still intact. I was sure of my direction now—all I had to do was wait. I understood the source of these hallucinations: they came from the Yin aspect within me, Rachel (Shadow Self). The power of the Death Array had directly affected her, making the illusions feel real.
These hallucinations seemed unreal, but they were manifestations of actual, supernatural power. I was beginning to grasp the strength of the Critical Convergence Ritual. A voice inside kept warning me—this sensation was uncanny, unlike anything I'd ever felt. Everything before me was forming deeper, sharper images in my mind.
What I saw in my mind were threads—lines weaving together to form the ground where I stood. I began to adjust my breathing.
After a while, I drew the bow from my back, nocked a golden arrow, and aimed at the house ahead. With a sharp whistle, the flaming golden arrow shot into the house and was instantly consumed. Pain stabbed through my chest—the flames were part of me, and their disappearance left me aching and hollow.
I only wanted to confirm one thing: would the Death Array attack me? Now I was sure—it wouldn't. Joseph Qiao had said before that when they entered, it was far from easy. The Death Array kept attacking them, and it took them a long time to figure out some of its rules.
I'm not of this world, so to the Yin aspect of this realm, I'm an anomaly. But within me is Rachel (Shadow Self), who has been here before. That's why I'm not expelled by the world's laws—I exist here in this precarious, in-between state.
Zhang Qingyuan and the others have visited this world before, but only briefly, and probably under Emperor God's protection. Otherwise, the world's laws would have expelled them. Tan Tian's departure created my current opportunity. (Glossary note: Zhang Qingyuan is not listed in the glossary, but contextually refers to a secondary character. Name left as is for narrative consistency.)
It seems they couldn't control Tan Tian, so they opened a gap in their power, allowing the world's laws to activate and expel Tan Tian—a massive anomaly to the Yin realm. So now, I'm both within Emperor God's protection and subject to the world's laws.
Once I understood, the last traces of anxiety and unease vanished from my heart. The world's laws were already affecting Emperor God's Critical Convergence Ritual, shielding me from attack. Now I was certain—the laws were guiding me, trying to lead me to the midpoint to activate the world's rules and drive out everything of Emperor God.
On this brief journey, I figured out many things. My mind never stopped working, constantly analyzing every issue. This was something John Chou kept guiding me to do—habitually thinking about matters from multiple angles, levels, and priorities to quickly reach the essence.
Now I just had to follow Joseph Qiao's earlier advice and wait for an opportunity. As long as I reached the center, I could use the Hell Imprint to destroy the ritual technique from within.
Everything was calm now. The house with its open door no longer had any hold over me. It was less than fifty meters away. I sat quietly on the ground, watching the wheat swaying in the wind, letting the silence settle over me.
The golden wheat field rippled like waves in the wind. I took a deep breath and stood up. Suddenly, tension gripped me—a flash of crimson appeared in the center of the field. The wheat was on fire. I sprinted toward the flames, determined to seize the chance at the maze's next junction. But just then, I felt someone push me. I froze. There was no sound, no presence, but I knew I couldn't go any further. I backed away, retracing my steps slowly, heart pounding.
My eyes turned a deep purple-black. Gradually, I realized the burning flames weren't red or ice-blue—they were black.
Strange visions kept appearing all around me. I focused on distinguishing the colors of the energies—different colored flames rose up in the wheat field. I closed my eyes and let the Curse Wolf circle around me.
The Death Array operates by the flow of power—Joseph Qiao made this clear to me. As long as energy keeps circulating, the array remains active, and the shifting power means its positions keep changing. By tracking these constantly moving forces, I could find the way to the center.
Then I sensed something odd—a chill coming from the open-doored house ahead. I hurried forward and soon saw a streak of ice-blue radiating cold. The point of power transition had appeared. I had to get inside quickly, but I didn't expect it to be in such a disturbingly eerie house.
I reached the doorway. A faint push pressed against my back, and I stepped inside. Instantly, I saw my body riddled with holes—but I felt no shock or fear. I walked straight into the ice-blue light before me.
Suddenly, I was standing on a high platform. I swallowed hard. Before me was a vast city at night, and I stood on a platform barely ten square meters wide. Fierce winds lashed at me, threatening to blow me off. I could only cling to the floor, but the wind kept howling. Desperate, I drew my half-broken Belle and stabbed it into the ground, gripping it tightly with both hands.
Suddenly, I opened my eyes wide and stood up. The wind carried a voice, urging me to follow. The sensation was uncanny. I let go of Beauty, and my body was swept up in the gale, flying toward the distant city. I didn't know where I'd land or what I'd face, but I was hurtling toward the center—fast. The vital energy connecting me was a straight line, unerring.
Gradually, the wind carried me through a mist, then a sea of fire, and finally past a waterfall pouring golden water. The scenes flashed by like a slide show. I closed my eyes, feeling the wind pulling me—gentle, without resistance. The sensation of a hand pushing me from behind grew stronger and stronger.
"You've arrived, Rachel Lan."
A muffled voice sounded in my ear. I opened my eyes and saw an irregular stone spire, towering so high I couldn't see the top. Beneath it lay a pool of clear water, and I was inside a cave whose walls glittered with multicolored stones.
"Is this the midpoint of the Yin realm?"
I asked, and the muffled voice replied.
"Now that you've arrived, you already know, Rachel Lan. Make your choice. That choice could bring misfortune to countless people."
I swallowed hard, the weight of the moment pressing down on me. I knew exactly what the voice meant—I was speaking with the will of the Yin realm itself.
"Can you tell me what happened here? What are Emperor God and the others really after?"
I knew reviving their father was only one goal for Emperor God and the others. There must be deeper reasons driving the three of them to seek the root of everything.
Ripples began to spread across the pool beneath the stone spire, sending faint vibrations through the air. I hurried over and saw a vision: a woman, belly swollen, dressed only in animal hide, sat smiling at her stomach in the doorway of a grass-woven hut, surrounded by plants I'd never seen before.